The weekly Doan update: Are Sharks still in the hunt? “Yes, very much so,” says his agent

Decided late tonight to try and see if anything has changed as far as the ongoing courtship of Shane Doan by the Sharks (and who knows how many other teams at this point).

Basically, it’s the status quo: If Doan decides to leave Phoenix, his agent says the Sharks are among the contenders to land him.

“Yes, very much so,” responded Doan’s agent, Terry Bross, in an email exchange after I asked if the Sharks were still in the hunt. “He is very intrigued should things not work out here.”

Earlier, some reports said that Monday the 16th was a potential deadline for Doan to decide if he believed the effort by former Shark CEO Greg Jamison to buy the team and keep it in suburban Glendale was likely to succeed. Not the case, said Bross, adding there is no deadline or time frame at this point.

*****Bross came under fire in some circles last week for generating interest in several hockey markets by suggesting Doan might land there if things don’t look good in Phoenix. Sure, it’s in his best interest to drum up a competitive market for his client. Duh.

But he’s just doing his job. And, tonight at least, I’m doing mine by asking and passing along what he had to say.

Sharks general manager Doug Wilson, by the way, is sticking to his standard policy of not talking about any conversations he may or may not be having with other teams.

*****The opening volley by the NHL in its CBA negotiations with the players was an attention-getter last week. Lots of places online to catch up on the national reports if you missed them, including http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=400580

Yeah, I know bargaining talks always begin with each side asking for the impossible. Even so, you’d think the message this sends is precisely the wrong one, pushing the NHLPA to come up with the equivalent from the other side. Oh well, here comes the bumpy ride that nobody wanted.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.

Please come to terms with CBA it’s the most important piece in a hockey players career. The years a player will be with a team. The salary cap level so the teams will know at what they level the contracts will be. Ticket prices will be for the fans. Those are the reasons that it must be taken care for very one . The life of the sport of hockey

bob kusche

Looking back even three years, who would have ever thought that a 35-year old would be the most sought after free agent just two weeks after July 1?

ZEKE

I think No Cup hit the nail on the head. It isn’t so much when the season starts, its how it ends. The owners have leverage in the pre-season and regular season, but the players have leverage to cancel to the stretch run and post season — where franchises make the most $$. So the players can start the year and get their paychecks — and gain leverage as the season moves along.

Thanks for the update DP, do other agents share this kind of info with media? It would be interesting to see what other current UFA/RFA players the sharks are interested in. There are rumors that Weber was in town a meet with GM DW, i’d also be interested to see if GM DW is interested in A Semin.

Thanks for the great job you do in giving us stuff to talk/think about in the slow off season.

Jordan

PS

It the nail on the head. Doan is not coming here.

Lori

Are you for real?

FireDougWilson

#5 VP and GM

Agents aren’t stupid, and when a newspaper reporter calls what do you think the agent would say? “No my client is returning to (insert team)? Of course not that agent is going to say whatever creates more leverage for his client. It is a PR spin, something we see a lot in here, and in the media with our Sharks.

I agree with Jordan, Doan is most likely staying in Phoenix, and no way a former Sharks owner and president is going to lose his teams best player to the team that fired him. Phoenix will do whatever it takes to keep him away from the Sharks.

Tom (fm Quinzee)

About the negotiation discussion from previous thread. I’m not any sort of authority on the subject, though I have been on the labor side of the table a few times and long ago took some labor law classes – way long ago. Bobby Orr was still a great player when I did that.

Anyhow, it’s true that good negotiators don’t put absurd offers on the table. However, when one side *wants* to break the existing framework and put a new one in place, that is precisely what they do. Things then get very, very complicated. The baseball lockout, for example, was an instance of the owners provoking things and not having both the internal cohesion to fight it through on the one hand, and not having the players over much of a barrel on the other.

I’m not real clear on what the NHL owners have as points of agreement among themselves, but I’ve read that they have some internal disagreement, particularly between the haves (Detroit, et al) and have-nots (the usual suspects, with the Yotes being on very shaky ground). Any truth to that, I don’t know.

But as for the negotiating side of this, once one side makes something into an offer, or puts it on the table, it has to stay there. With this offer the owners can be looking to see what they can sucker the NHLPA into as a response, i.e., the NHLPA has to be very careful about their response to this. They can propose a “compromise” between what exists and what the owners have offered, and that then becomes a position the Players are locked into for at least a while. A position which, to the owners, may be exactly what they (the owners) want.

On the other side of the table, the players strength is that they are the players. But they are the players in a League that doesn’t have the financial strength of the other “major” sports. Are the players “over a barrel” ??? They are not in anything near the financial position of the baseball & basketball players. And does the NHLPA have the internal cohesion of the MLBPA? No idea. So I don’t know that the players are over a barrel, but really, they are not in a strong position.

Ray Ratto (I know, most of you hate him, so what) did comment toward the end of the playoffs, or shortly after, that if the hockey season gets cancelled this would be colossal stupidity on the part of the owners, as the sport is gaining momentum and growing the fan base. I fear that with this offer, Colossal Stupidity is coming up strong along the rail, about to pull away from the field, to put it in another vernacular.

Darby

FDW, the Sharks didn’t fire Jamison.

FireDougWilson

Darby,

Oh really, so he left the Sharks on his own, and gave up his ownership stake on his own accord? No he was ‘Forced out’ another term for fired.

Tifososquali

FDW and others, I agree that Doan is going nowhere.

It’ll be suicidal for the NHL and new dogs ownership to let him go.

I think the agent is using this opportunity for the new owners to extend Doan’s contract until 2025….and in addition get them to pay for a massive, air conditioned stable for Doan’s horses.

Alaskan_ice

ForceOutDougWilson,
Why the antagonistic stance?? The Sharks and Jamison never said or confirmed being fired. That fact doesn’t make Darby incorrect. Leave it be.

Clemenza

@ #12….

Because he thinks he is a better GM than DW.

A long shot for sure, but Doan > Nash!!!!

FireDougWilson

13,

Indeed, but then again what are your qualifications to state that I am not?

FireDougWilson

Clemenza,

Check this out: I have won just as many Stanley Cup Trophies as Doug Wilson has, can you guess the number?

Hockeynut

How old is Shane Doan? 36? How is this guy the “answer?” to the Sharks problems and not just another bandaid “fix” by the great fixer Doug Wilson. I like Doan’s game and five years ago I’d be in favor of bringing him in but at 36? Come on. Really?

Snow Shovel

Clemenza, allow me, please. Thanks.

what are your qualifications to state that I am not?

Because you (FDW) don’t understand value. When you say DW overpaid, you are imposing your values on him. There is no set value on say a defenseman, say 28 years old, say x number of points last year. There is no set value that you can simply look up and say, well, dang he overpaid.

You can find what others have paid or are paying for a SIMILAR person, and similar is not the same for everybody, but there are lots of other variables and intangibles and availability that go into defining a particular person’s value to a GM. You don’t understand DW’s. You only understand your small, limited world. You are very unqualified (from your comments on WTC) to be making those decisions.

JB

#8 – Tom – Nice comment, if understandably depressing for fans. I share the concerns that the league’s opening offer looks deliberately combative. Now where we hope this generally ends up seems far from where it is starting.

“I fear that with this offer, Colossal Stupidity is coming up strong along the rail, about to pull away from the field, to put it in another vernacular.”

Leaving the PA looking at the horses backside…sounds about right.

JB

The longer this goes on, the more we can figure Doan really wants to stay in Phoenix and will accept less to do that and the less likely he is to sign elsewhere. But if he doesn’t stay, I still like (gut feeling, not the little knowledge I am privy to) the odds that San Jose could get him.

Like Wall

I would like to see San jose get Doan, but as far as I can recall, the Sharks have never been able or willing to bring in a top free agent that is in high demand (I don’t think Bernie Nicholls or Tony Granato count :)). For that matter, I would have liked to have seen the Wizard sign here. Assuming the Sharks are not willing to beat some crazy 3-5 year offer for Doan that some other yahoo GM is sure to offer him, I sure hope the Sharks are looking hard at a plan B… that is not Nash.

Alaskan_ice

Clemenza,
I find it funny that he went after you and not me. I was the one that made the statement of the antagonism. I guess there was no rebuke there.

That aside, I’m hoping that Doan does come here. He could be the JR that could push us past. It’s just my opinion. I’m even willing to tell DW to do it, even in my best Pollyanna voice.

Go Sharks!!

Clemenza

LOL @ Snow Shovel!

FDW, dude, I’ve asked you to post your resume, instead of just relentlessly harping on the job DW does to try & bring a little cred to your opinions you post here. To date we really haven’t seen much with regard to your professional hockey pedigree, so until then, counting cups really is a moot point. At least the guy’s doing what he can to bring Lord Stanley to SJ as opposed to other folks who just hang here all day & rail about the lousy job they think he’s doing.
Seriously…none of us here knows what in the wide wide world of sports goes on behind the closed doors in Sharks land, so if you do, please elaborate…. But if you don’t, well…

Peninsula Shark

HockeyNut #16….

I think at this point the Sharks can only find a piece in the short term, not the “answer’, and Doan is a piece. The problem, at least with the comments made here, is even a potential “answer” in the form of a Rick Nash is also brought with a lot of skepticism and doubt. Maybe that’s justified because of who would have to be given up to bring in Nash. But I do think trading for Nash should be strongly considered because it’s pretty clear Nash has the tools and enough “prime” years left to have a far greater impact on this organization than Shane Doan can. Doan could probably go to a new team and put it over the top. San Jose? I’m not as sure, and that’s why Doug Wilson’s job should be in as much jeopardy as Todd McClellan’s if the Sharks slip further this season. But that’s another argument for another thread.

I think Doan would be a nice addition to the roster, and unlike Nash it wouldn’t cost the Sharks players like Pavs, Braun, a goalie or draft pick etc., but I think if you’re expecting Shane Doan to arrive in town and instantly make the Sharks a SC contender you’re setting too high an expectation for Shane Doan.

If the Sharks are going to sniff the SC in the next couple years while JT and PM are still under contract, and you don’t want to trade Pavelski and others for a Rick Nash-level talent, younger players like Pavelski, Couture, Vlasic, Burns, Braun need to take their games to another level. Havlat should show the Sharks he can stay healthy for an entire season and be a dynamic playmaker. Marleau needs more consistency and to stop disappearing in playoff series. Thornton has to continue setting a good example and keep the team’s chemistry in check when things go wrong.

Doan? If he leaves Phoenix wherever he heads to next, he should be a complementary player, bolster the top six and contribute points while adding grit and toughness to a team (and in San Jose those two traits seem to be lacking across the roster). But anything more than that is asking too much of Shane Doan.

Clemenza

He & I have sparred a few times Alaskan, so we’re old pals…
😉

hondr

There is no set value on say a defenseman, say 28 years old, say x number of points last year. There is no set value that you can simply look up and say, well, dang he overpaid.

.

Sure there is.

For example, last Summer, whack-a-mole Wilson donated a bunch of Sharky assets, picks and prospects, for the right to hand a massive new contract to a no-D turnover machine.

Now, if a no-D turnover machine was what whack-a-mole had in mind, he could have just waited around and signed the next one that stumbled along, Wideman, Carle, et al. I mean, whack-a-mole’d still have been massively overpaying, but at least he wouldn’ta been stripping out franchise assets, picks and prospects, for the pleasure of overpaying.

So yeah, there is an objective standard in play here, and whack-a-mole sorta sets that standard, and not in a good way.

DumbPuck™

hondr-

Things slow over at the Detroit blogs?? If I were you I’d be looking at other teams’ blogs, too. Who wants to spend time looking at that blueline in Detroit?

They’re not real fast-paced and in a hurry, like whack-a-mole Wilson, for example. He seems to like to rush so he can pick up those high draft choices at the end of the season. 😉

DumbPuck™

Really?? The Sharks are much closer to a Cup in the future than are the Wings. And please stop with the “whack-a-mole’ crap – it goes over as well as Gallagher’s Sledge-O-Matic routine. And please, don’t tell try to enlighten us all about overpaid, no-D blueliners: Your hero Ken Holland is paying that pylon named Ericsson $3.25M per season to play so well that Wings’ fans call him Shitbox.

Like Wall

hondr – You always bring an interesting spin to things. I know this was not your point, but you imply talking about Burns as he is the only d-man of substance the Sharks brought on board. You have been harping on him and Boyle as being “no D turnover machines” for the last little bit. While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, it is my opinion that you brush that stroke a bit too broadly. I will grant you that both Boyle and Burns turn the puck over. In their roles as offensive defensemen, it is par for the course as they are expected to take greater chances than say MEV. Most people can objectively look at what they bring offensively and defensively and make an evaluation of their worth. I think most on this blog if not around the league would say that both players have strong value for what their roles are. You don’t and that is fine but maybe you should try and look at things a bit more objectively. If ou could reduce the bombast a bit, we could all have a more meaningful dialague.
I agree that Burns didn’t live up to his hype yet, but I think he was good (not great) and will do better this season (i hope!). I think he improved as the season went along, though there would be a random phantom pass throught the neutral zone every few games. Boyle is a stud and to say different is not genuine. He may be small, but he is tenacious and fairly responsible in his own end. Torts used him similarly to how he is used in San Jose. Torts is no softy. I don’t think he would have use Boyle on the PK, in tough minutes if he didn;t think he could handle it. He may not be St. Nic. but I doubt there are many teams that wouldn’t love to have him, the Wings included.

Like Wall

Oh yeah… and back to your original point, hondr, I think that Erhoff and Wishneski contracts really set the bar last year. If you look at Burns in the context of those two, he was and continues to be a great deal.

hondr

No, that insane contract was not a “great deal”. Not even close. That Burns contract set the bar for management overpayment last season, as previously mentioned. $6M for a no-D turnover machine? Ridiculous.

I mean, that contract set the bar for management overpayment. Carle and Wideman are sending Burns and whack-a-mole a Christmas card this year, and whack-a-mole gets a smoked turkey, too. 😉

And I’m not even talking about the franchise assets stripped out and sent to Minnesota by that idiot Wilson, I’m just talking about the insane contract. They could have had any of the no-D turnover machines… for nothing… but Wilson donated franchise assets. Ridiculous. Carle or Wideman… take your pick. Both are superior to Burns.

If any team wants a no-D turnover machine… they just go out and sign them. Assuming they actually want that, which smart teams don’t.

And no, Boyle is not a “stud”. He’s a no-D turnover machine, of somewhat better game sense than Burns (not that that’s saying much), but the Sharkys are still left with the presence of two of that type of player on their roster, meaning one of them is redundant and expendable, meaning it was a management mistake to bring both on together, paid at massive contract value.

I think Mr. Boyle and Mr. Burns are in for quite a rude surprise, whenever the NHL comes back. I can’t see the no-D turnover machines being allowed to run loose as they did last season. This is gonna get good. 😉

hondr

…and no, it is not “par for the course” to have multiple no-D turnover machines, paid at massive value, littering your roster. That’s a management mistake.

Like Wall

Hondr it was a great contract and still is especially looking at the other contracts that were signed that year and this year. Saying otherwise simply isn’t looking at the league or comprable players in any sort of meaningful way. Again, I cite the contracts of Erhoff and Wisnewski as counter examples. If you choose to ignore those, that is up to you.

As for the assets lost, the only really tough loss was Coyle and he is still not in the NHL (perhaps he will be next year and will tear things up… or not). If you look at it from an active NHL roster prospective only Seto was a streaky goal scorer (sometimes clutch, sometimes invisible) given up for a young strong D-man with great upside. As the team had a spare top 6 forward, that seems to be a reasonable transaction to me.

In regards to Boyle, i completely disagree with your position as does the Stanley Cup he helped Tampa win. If you can’t see that, i feel bad for you, because you are really missing something. But you are fairly hockey knowlegdeable so… I assume you do see it and are just trying to stir the pot. As a Wings fan on a Sharks blog, I guess that makes sense.

No, these days things are slow because they’re going back into the Dead Wings mode. Their window has closed…

Turn out the lights
The party’s over
They say that
All good things must end
Call it tonight
The party’s over
And tomorrow starts
The same old thing again

hondr

No, it was not a “great contract”, and it won’t become that just because you keep repeating that same foolishness.

It was a massive overpayment to a no-D turnover machine, who could have been picked up far cheaper, and without stripping out franchise assets, which you’re downplaying for some peculiar reason. I’m sure whack-a-mole Wilson thanks you for all your support of that stupid trade. 😉

Carle, Wideman… any of them could be sitting under Sharky contract right now, cheaper and better than whack-a-mole’s brand new sacred cow… and without the loss of those assets.

And hey, I like Boyle. Mind you, he’s way overpaid, and he’s always Bobby Orring about, but you can make use of a guy like that, in the proper set up. Problem is, you can’t make use of TWO guys like that. It makes one of them redundant, as the Sharkys found out last season. Which is the reason it’s about to get good in Sharkyville. That’s all about to change, I suspect. 😉

hondr

I remember when Yzerman retired… all the noobs were yammering about “it’s over”.

As we saw, it didn’t work out quite the way the noobs thought. 😉

You win Stanley Cups through org-uhn-eye-ZAY-shins, noobs. You don’t win them by whacking moles, and chasing after no-D turnover machines who are Bobby Orring about. 😉

Beer League Rocks

Clang Clang Clang

y

Oh..wow. DW has apparanlty offered Mike Modano a comeback bid. How far can this guy reach. Shane Doan is old, but at least he’s not retired….He’s did this with JR, and Claude Lemeuix…Modano next? Please no. DW please go after someone who is still in the league that can score goals…

My repeating it has nothing to do with it being a good contract, but if you think it is bad, good for you. I am not trying to change your mind, just provide a different point of view.

I am surprised by your assertion that Wideman and Carle are better than Burns, in terms of value or skill level. I see you said that twice now… do you have to say it one more time before it actually is true or 3 more times perhaps 🙂 in all seriousness, we will definitely need to agree to disagree on that one.

As for Boyle, I just don’t follow you. Is there ever a good price to pay for a no D turnover machine as you assert he is? I guess you are trying to give me that he is not as bad as you first indicated he was. A little compromise. I’ll take that in the spirit it was offered :).

Snow Shovel

Hondr’s got the same problem that FDW has – he wants to be a GM but doesn’t understand value.

Like Wall

Sorry BLR. I didn’t think I was as bad as rating a MLBSF type response. I thought we were having an okay conversation but perhaps you are right LOL.

hondr

Well, at least you’re coming off calling that Burns deal a “great contract”. That’s progress for you. It was getting a bit unseemly that you kept repeating that. 😉

And smart of you not to repeat that that was a good trade, too, donating all those assets for the right to pay that massive contract. That was sorta a credibility destroyer, so you needed to drop it. 😉

Now, Carle and Wideman ARE in whack-a-mole’s latest no-D turnover machine’s class. That’s just the way it is, and that’s all their established NHL value. Only difference is that those other 2 came by dint of a signature on a (overpaid) contract, with no franchise assets heading back the other way.

That overpayment is the measure of the OBJECTIVE STANDARD for whack-a-mole Wilson’s overpayment… which I believe is where we started this discussion shortly above. 😉

DumbPuck™

I already posted a list of contracts signed the year BEFORE Burns’ extension was even negotiated. However, he’s far too full of himself to acknowledge that those contracts actually set the bar for Burns’ contract. He also failed to acknowledge that Burns performed better this season than ANY of the guys I posted information about.

That’s par for the course, as he even fails to acknowledge his man-crush Ken Holland’s pathetic contract negotiated with Shitbox (as Detroit fans call him because of his putrid play) Johathan Ericsson. $3.25M for a third-pairing defenseman?? Now that’s the Detroit way, right???

Iafrate

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm……a once premiere player in the league facing the twilight of his career and the Sharks are interested…

have we heard this before….

adam graves
bernie nichols
al iafrate
rob blake
mike vernon

….i wonder if we made an offer to jagr as well?

Man Jose Sharts

The Detroit way is to win Cups. You can thrash the Ericsson deal all you want but it doesn’t take any of the rings off of Ken Holland’s fingers.

BTW, hondr is right. When Stevie Y retired, everyone was saying it was the end. Guess what? It wasn’t. I’m not saying Detroit makes a deep playoff run next season, but you can bet your ugly teal sweaters that the organization will do what it takes to stay competitive. And it’s not like the prospect pool is all dried up like it is in SJ.

y

have we heard this before….

adam graves
bernie nichols
al iafrate
rob blake
mike vernon

Marty McSorley
Kelly Hrudey
Tony Granato
JR
Lemiux

ummm…Doug Wilson

Etc….

Emily Hall

I would love to see Shane Doan in teal! Hopefully things go well and if he ends up a Shark, we can show him our “Doan” face.